1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed for a knife used with an egg breaking element or cracker head that is part of a machine for breaking, separating, and inspecting eggs. In particular, the present invention is a knife which is designed to increase the egg content yield of such a machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Egg breaking and separating machines are known in the prior art. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,718,906; 2,815,055; 3,029,849; 3,082,804; 3,133,569; 3,142,322; 3,180,381; 3,185,194; 3,203,458; 3,417,798; 5,085,139; 5,617,782 and European Patent Application No. 0 746 998.
FIG. 1 represents a typical prior art egg breaking elements or cracker head used with prior art egg breaking devices. The egg breaking device includes a series of egg breaker elements 5 which are conveyed by an egg breaker and separator conveyor 2. Pivoted clamping fingers 7, of which there are generally two on each egg breaker element 5, are initially in a raised condition 7', shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1, in which they are pivoted away from cup halves 8 on the egg breaker element 5. An egg E is rolled onto the cup halves 8 on the egg breaker element 5, and then the pivoted clamping fingers 7 are pivoted down toward the cup halves 8, to the position shown in solid lines in FIG. 1. The egg E is thereby gripped between the pivoted clamping fingers 7 on the top and the cup halves 8 on the bottom.
After the egg E has been gripped in cup halves 8 of egg breaker elements 5 by clamping fingers 7, the gripped eggs E are conveyed by egg breaker and separator conveyor 2 to an egg breaking station or location. At the egg breaking station or location, the eggs E are broken by egg breaker knives 31 on egg breaker elements 5. Breaking is accomplished by pivoting the egg breaker knives 31 from a retracted position 31', shown in dashed lines in FIG. 1, to a breaking position, shown in solid lines in FIG. 1. In the breaking position, the egg breaker knives 31 impact against the shell of egg E, thereby breaking the shell of the egg E into two egg shell halves.
The cup halves 8 are thereafter pivoted, in directions into and out of the paper in FIG. 1, to cause the contents of eggs E to fall into an egg separator element 6 associated with each egg breaker element 5. Egg separator element 6 can include an egg yolk cup 9 and an egg white receiver 30 of any known type, whereby the egg yolk of egg E is caught in egg yolk cup 9 and the egg white of egg E is drained from egg yolk cup 9, by the force of gravity, into egg white receiver 30.
FIGS. 2 through 5 show an end view of the egg breaker element of FIG. 1, through a sequence of operation. In a first step, shown in FIG. 2, an egg is rolled or otherwise placed on cup halves 8 while the clamping fingers are in a raised condition 7'. In the next step, shown in FIG. 3, the clamping fingers 7 are pivoted down, in directions G, to grip the egg E between the clamping fingers 7 and the cup halves 8. The first two steps are accomplished with the egg breaker knives in a retracted position 31', below the lowermost portion of the shell of the egg B. Thereafter, at a breaking station or location, the egg breaker knives 31 are pivoted rapidly upward, in directions B, to the position shown in FIG. 3, which causes the edges of the egg breaker knives 31 to impact against and crack the shell of the egg E to create two egg shell halves E'. The clamping fingers 7, cup halves 8, and egg breaking knifes 31 associated with each egg shell half E' is thereafter pivoted away, in directions P, from its counterpart associated with the other egg shell half E', as shown in FIG. 5. As a result, the contents C of the egg E are dumped from the egg shell halves E', as shown by the arrows in FIG. 5, preferably into the egg separator element 6 shown in FIG. 1.